Sunday, November 29, 2009

President Obama - Appeasement & Iran

President Obama is viewed as weak and ineffective by our enemies. Obama took three months or more to decide that he must listen to his generals and send more troops to Afghanistan, or face defeat in that country. It is doubtful that any of the facts changed from the time the military asked for 40,000 more troops to fight the war in Afghanistan month's ago; but President Obama, the Ditherer in Chief, just could not make the decision without talking it to death. Obama was a law professor and community organizer. It is one thing to be in the classroom or local community office talking, talking, talking about issues. It is quite another to be the President of the United States when lives are at stake.

Clearly, in the months that Obama has taken to finally make the decision to send more troops to Afghanistan that will be announced in the next few days, we have had some of the highest casualty days since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan eight years ago. When Bush was President the left wing media did the daily body count. Isn't it interesting that now that Obama is President, we don't hear much from the left wing media about soldier's deaths in Afghanistan or Iraq. I wonder why?

The lessons of history have taught us that when ever we have a weak President, aka Jimmy Carter, it is dangerous for our country. Obama extended a hand to the Iranians and they have responded by cutting it off. The Iranians recently announced that rather than stopping the development of nuclear weapons, they are going to build 10 more uranium enrichment facilities. Does anyone with a brain think this is happening because the Iranians view President Obama as a strong President? Obama just does not understand the realities of foreign policy. The best way to avoid war is for the United States to be strong. Obama's White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, said in response to this expansion of nuclear facilities, "Time is running out for Iran to address the international community's growing concerns about its nuclear program". Oh really!! Just what is Obama prepared to do to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. And, how much time is too much time. This silly dance with Iran has been going on for 8 or more years. The Europeans have been taken for suckers in thinking that they could somehow negotiate with the Iranians. So now what?

Either we must be prepared to accept Iran as a nuclear power or take military action. It really is that simple. Meaningful sanctions are not likely to happen because of Russian and Chinese veto. So we have to go it alone and or join with the willing, if we want to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. If the United States is not going to take military action, which under Obama is probable, then the next best thing is to arm the Israeli's with nuclear weapons and submarines to act as a deterrent. And, or we must make it clear to the Iranians that the US views the use of nuclear weapons by the Iranians against any nation in the world as an attack on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response on Iran, much the same way President Kennedy announced during the Cuban Missile Crisis related to Soviet missiles fired from Cuba.

If we allow Iran to become a nuclear power, then we must form a ring of containment around that country. However, the Iranians are not the Soviet Russians. The notion of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) worked with the Soviet Union because though they were Communist Thugs, they were sane. The Iranians in power are Islamic fanatics, who believe in and welcome the concept of Armageddon. The Iranians believe that one of their revered martyrs will come back as their savior when the world ends. Hence, the notion that their country might be destroyed by nuclear attack is in keeping with their long term beliefs. As a result, the Iranians may see nuclear annihilation as inevitable, which makes dealing with them particularly problematic.

One thing is for sure, appeasement of the Iranians in power, that has gone on for years, is not working.Short of military action, we must do what we can to bring down the current Iranian government so that hopefully moderates will emerge that do not want to see the destruction of their country. The easiest way to make that happen is for President Obama to announce that any company from any country that does business with Iran either directly or indirectly is prohibited from doing business with the United States either directly or indirectly. This one act will make life miserable for the Iranian people, that depend on imports for daily living, so that hopefully they will rise up and depose the current regime. By taking this one action, the President can show that we will not be held hostage by the Russians or Chinese or any other country.

Unfortunately, President Obama is weak and ineffective. I doubt Obama has the guts to act unilaterally. Obama's weakness emboldens the Iranians and North Koreans. These are very dangerous times made even more dangerous by our young, inexperienced, weak and naive President. Hopefully, Obama will listen to some of the grown-up's around him. If Obama does not get tough with Iran now, it will lead to disaster later. Where is Ronald Reagan when we need him?